


if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones

by okiwomanofletters



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: 3 AM musings, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:43:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4307328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okiwomanofletters/pseuds/okiwomanofletters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs</p><p>A quiet moment between Owen and Claire in the early hours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones

**Author's Note:**

> First work in the this fandom, woooo. It has been way too long AO3.  
> Saw Jurassic World over the weekend and just fell straight into the trash bin for this ship.  
> Also my first time writing a fic that's not reader insert, so please leave a comment if you think there is something I can improve on!

The clock on the microwave reads 3:17 am as Claire pours herself a glass of water. There are no nightmares tonight, only a restlessness she can't seem to shake, tossing and turning in a bed that doesn't make her feel safe. 

Her therapist tells Claire that she's been making progress. She can sleep through whole nights now, no longer waking up to scream we need more teeth, we need more teeth, _we need more teeth_ till her voice is hoarse.

Of course, that doesn't mean she's cured of Isla Nublar. She knows that as much as she tries to leave the island, the island will never leave her. 

Earlier that week, she had been here at the house, given to her by the Masrani Corporation for going through "that terrible ordeal." It's a spacious property overlooking the San Diego coast, blessedly away from most of the city.

She's typing up an email when the first firework goes up in the air, a loud _pop!_ forcing her to look up and see the green flash of light. Green, like the leaves under her feet, the green all around her as she runs. She runs and runs from a monster she had signed off on, approved of, a monster she had helped create, when she didn't even know what it was goddamn made of. 

She can't seem to tear her eyes away, the thoughts paralyzing her whole body as the fireworks continue to go off. The next flash is red, and she's back on that godforsaken island, trying to look strong in front of a camera she knows Lowery is behind, yelling at him to open the Paddock because otherwise they will all die. The flare in her hands is red, reflecting in the eyes of what she knows has more teeth, and Claire knows she needs to run.

She doesn't think she'll ever stop running. 

Owen comes home to find her crawled up into a ball on the carpet, tears endlessly flowing down her cheeks to the floor. He holds her there for hours as the sun sets and the moon appears. Claire never feels safer than when she's with Owen. 

He doesn't ask, but she still tells him. It was a couple, just celebrating their marriage on the beach. It fascinates her how someone else's act of love is her own undoing.

She shakes herself out of her thoughts and looks down to see she hasn't taken a sip of her water yet. How long has she been there, just thinking?

"Claire..."

She turns around to see Owen, slowly making his way into the kitchen. "Is everything okay?" he asks, wrapping his arms around her waist and ducking his head into the crook of her neck. He's dressed in just his boxers and the heat radiating from his bare chest is a comfort. Owen has always been warm, even when in the tropics of Isla Nublar. She wonders if maybe that's why he was always wearing board-shorts.

"Everything's fine, I'm just getting some water." She unwraps herself from Owen's arms and turns around to give him a quick kiss. "Go back to bed."

"I can't." Her boyfriend mumbles, shaking off the aura of sleep around him. "Bed's too cold without you."

Claire laughs at that, causing a confused look to settle onto Owen's face. 

"What?"

"How could you be cold?" She gently asks, grabbing hold of the raptor trainer's hands in hers. She could feel the heat warming her skin. "You're so hot all the time."

Owen's face quickly changes to that of flirtation, eyebrow raised suggestively. He removes his hands from her grasp to place them on Claire's waist, pulling her closer to him. "Claire, are you suggesting that I'm hot?" He croons, voice low and sweet. 

Claire sees the teasing in his eyes and decides to play along. She pulls out of Owen's hands just enough to cross her arms. "Well then, I'm sorry to disappoint you _Mr. Grady_ when I say that you are not."

He lets out a low whistle at her response. "Oh, so we're back to 'Mr. Grady', are we? That's low Mrs. Dearing."

She allows herself to give him a sweet smile.  

Claire turns back around to grab the lonely glass of water sitting on the kitchen counter and downs it all in one go. It had to go sooner or later, and the clock tells her she's been up too long anyways. The room is silent as she sets it back down, and she turns once again to see Owen looking at her. She can't read his expression, but she knows it's different from the mood they had set a minute ago. 

"Claire?"

"Yes?"

He scoots closer to her, placing his hands back onto her waist like they were earlier.

"Dance with me?"

It's in that moment that she knows she's doomed herself by growing to love Owen Grady. She'll never be able to escape him. 

"Of course."

She places her arms on his shoulders and allows him to lead them in a slow circle around the kitchen. The tile is cold on her feet, but Owen is warm and inviting as she sets her head on his bare chest. The house is calm and peaceful, the quiet only broken by the soft padding of their feet, dancing. 

Here, Claire knows she is safe. Here, she knows she is loved. 

Here, she takes comfort in knowing that though they may not be okay now, they will be. They're going to be okay. 

And that's the only reassurance she needs. 

 


End file.
